Friday, January 27, 2017

Scent Description: Cotton Candy, Vanilla and Caramel, Bergamot and orange citrus top note, with touches of Berries, Muget, Strawberry, Plum, and a dry-down of Dry Fig Leaves, Musk, Anise, with just the slightest hint of Musk and Woodsy Aroma/"SMT Blend"/ Rich creamy frosting flavored with a STRONG base of sugary sweet cotton candy confection! Strawberry, Raspberry, Plum, sugary crystals and sweet vanilla. Jeez... this is what happens when I blend lots of well-defined scents together. LOL

Date Received: December 27, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.9 oz

Location of Warmer: Kitchen, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 5/5 A delectably creamy take on the normal Pink Sugar. CCF is not quite noticeable, except perhaps in passing.

Warm Sniff: 5/5 The cotton candy frosting becomes more noticeable, amping up the sweet factor to this blend. It's no more sweet than pink sugar by itself, though, so if you can handle PS alone this will be fine.

Melting Power: 4/5 Half of a chunk got a little under 8 hours of scent.

Repurchase: Definitely! This is one of those scents I like to melt when guests are coming over since it is light enough to not intrude and the less experienced nose accepts it as a strange vanilla blend.

Monday, January 23, 2017

Scent Description: Sugar cookies right out of the oven, notes of sugar, butter and buttercream.

Date Poured: November 23, 2016

Weight Melted: 0.8 oz

Location of Warmer: Kitchen, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 5/5 A delectably creamy blend. I'm used to sugar cookie scents smelling incredibly crunchy, for lack of a better word. This one instead smells incredibly creamy. It smells like there might be something similar to VBN in here.

Warm Sniff: 5/5 There was an ever-so-slight crunchy note once this melted, but just enough to make sure this remained a sugar cookie scent. The rest was still an incredibly creamy vanilla sugar cookie blend.

Friday, January 20, 2017

One of my Black Friday/Christmas presents to myself was a major haul from Silhouette during their extended Black Friday sale. I had a pretty good idea that my parents were going to buy me a Portrait, so my original intent was to stock up on blades and cutting mats.

One thing led to another, as is the natural course of things, and I became fixated on this curious little machine; a custom stamp creator that uses "thermal printing" (their quotes, not mine), 3D reliefs, and ink to create a permanent stamp that can be used up to 50 times per ink application.

In a method similar to the fabled "I only wanted two things" store trips, I checked out with far more than I had gone in for. On top of the blades and cutting mats, I walked out with a Mint starter bundle and the Super-Special-Awesome-Ultra-Deluxe Exclusive Once-in-a-Lifetime Mint Accessories Bundle. In other words, the Ultimate Silhouette Mint Accessories Bundle.

Cold Sniff: 4/5 A delicious pumpkin pie with a sprinkling of blueberries. Think of a blueberry muffin (with authentic blueberries!) and smash it violently into a pumpkin pie. Yup. Violently. That's this tart.

Warm Sniff: 4/5 The blueberries died off quite a bit once this melted. Bummer.

Scent Strength: 1.5/3

Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the entire bedroom quite easily.

Melting Power: 3/5 I got a little over 5 hours of scent from two cubes.

Repurchase: No. Sadly, the part I was most excited about (authentic blueberries!) wasn't quite there once this tart was in the warmer.

Warm Sniff: 4/5 No surprises once melted. Actually, that's a lie. I was very surprised that this didn't turn into a silent beg for me to end its misery. I'm used to my coffee scents turning into a warped and bitter ghost of what I like my coffees to smell like.

Scent Strength: 1/3 This stayed incredibly light.

Scent Throw: 2/3 This filled most of the kitchen/dining area, but not much else.

Melting Power: ?/5 It's hard to say how long this tart lasted. It was overshadowed by another scent that I melted (Christmas Cedar), and I forgot this was something I'd melted until I was checking my wax notes.

Repurchase: Undecided. I need to go back and re-melt this, and once I do I will edit this post, but as it sits in my memory, no. This scent was incredibly light but remained a very gorgeous, authentic coffee blend. I may have to save this for smaller spaces and keep other, stronger scents away from it. If my second melt reveals good throw and melting power, I will say yes. Even with the very light scent strength. :)

Who can resist a sale? A once in a lifetime opportunity? A 70% off sale from a brand that usually retails for anywhere between $8 and $10 and has consistently great performance on your nails? I don't know about you, but I sure couldn't resist. My only regret is that I did not unleash the crazy. Alas, it's time to wipe my tears and turn my attention to these beauties!

I submitted my order on November 25th and it shipped on December 1st. Due to shipping restrictions, this had to be shipped via boat and did not arrive until January 11th. Thus, this belated Black Friday haul post!

Scent Throw: >3/3 This filled the entryway, hallway, kitchen/dining area, office, and part of the living room.

Melting Power: 4/5 I got six hours of scent from one cookie.

Repurchase: Yes! This was one of those scents that was light in strength but managed to pull it off splendidly. If you want a nice, light fall scent that won't punch you in the face, this is the place to go.

Cold Sniff: 2/5 I'm so glad I did not sniff this before throwing it in the warmer, because I would have tossed it. There is a skunky odor in the background that is hard to ignore.

Warm Sniff: 4/5 No skunk once melted! Thank goodness! This was a pleasantly sweet custard scent with a very slight hint of pear.

Scent Strength: 1/3

Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the entire living room.

Melting Power: 3/5 I got about 5 hours of scent from two cubes.

Repurchase: Probably not. It was nice, but nothing special enough to warrant a purchase of this specific scent. That skunky note also scared me a little. It's probably because of the age (over a year old) but I don't remember too much of how this smelled when I first got it to be certain.

Warm Sniff: 5/5 The frosty/minty note definitely stepped it up once melted, but the sweet pomegranate stayed right up there as well. All in all, quite a pleasant blend.

Scent Strength: 2/3

Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the entire living room.

Melting Power: 4/5 I got a little over 6 hours of scent from half a tart.

Repurchase: Definitely a yes! I feel like this is a perfect scent to melt during the transition from Winter to Spring. That minty coolness screams for snow and ice while the bright, almost berry-like pomegranate beckons the first greens to bloom.

Cold Sniff: 5/5 There is an almost berry-like note to this, layered between a faint tea and gentle violets.

Warm Sniff: 5/5 The violets lean slightly musky and compliment the tea and cakes/sugar cookies wonderfully! It's hard to describe besides delicious. I used this as a bedtime melt and it was light enough to sleep with but threw incredibly far.

Scent Strength: 1.5/3

Scent Throw: >3/3 This filled the guest room, entryway, hallway, kitching/dining area, part of the living room, and part of the office.

Melting Power: 5/5 Half of one chunk gave me about 10 hours of scent.

Repurchase: Yes! My only regret is I did not use my psychic powers to see into the future and realize I would want so much more of this. LOL

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Scent Description: A sexy, spicy blend of peppercorns, nutmeg, and fresh clove; embodied with notes of elderberries, blackberries, plums, and fresh green oakmoss; with magical, effervescent top notes of carbonated fizzy pop and just a hint of cool mint.

Weight Melted: 0.9 oz

Location of Warmer: Living room, in tealight warmer

Cold Sniff: 5/5Oakmoss is the bed of this blend, with a heavy mix of mint. On top lay peppercorns, a dash of nutmeg, and a healthy dose of fresh clove. Somewhere hidden in between these ingredients are the slightly tart and sweet hints of berries. I feel like I'm walking down the Christmas decoration aisle of any generic craft store you can think of.

Warm Sniff: 5/5 No surprises once melted.

Scent Strength: 2.5/3

Scent Throw: >3/3 This filled the kitchen/dining area, the hallway, the office, the entryway, and part of the living room.

Melting Power: 4/5 I got about 7.5 hours of scent from one snowflake.

Repurchase: Yes! This was a pleasant, earthy take on a classic Christmas scent.

Cold Sniff: 4/5 Crunchy apples mixed with a creamy caramel mixture. Delicious in smell, even if I wouldn't appreciate the taste!

Warm Sniff: 4/5 No surprises once melted.

Scent Strength: 1/3

Scent Throw: 3/3 This filled the entire living room.

Melting Power: 3/5 I got about 4.5 hours of scent from half of this scent shot.

Repurchase: Yes. I've come to appreciate apple scents and how they bring in the fall and winter months, and this is a pleasant fall festival type scent. If you haven't tried it, definitely add it to your Fall list for 2017!

Okay, here's the deal. I fell incredibly behind on my wax reviews from December. I'm going to aim to post at least two a day until I catch up. Until then, enjoy this super influx of posts from me. LOL!

I did not ask for this. I did not plan for this. My dear bloggy friends reminded me constantly, pushing and prodding at my feeble self control with their talk of blends and plans for this opening. Before I knew it, I was planning out blends. You know. Just in case. Then I found myself perusing the new website and testing out the new gift registry system. Just in case.

Before I knew it, Amy announced the website was open. My poor fingers had a mind of their own. How did they remember my payment information?! Why were my eyes complying, reading off the order and comparing it to my Just In Case list? How can one submit an order with such speed when they obviously had no intentions of ordering?

Alas, it was too late. I admitted defeat to my friends, confessed to my husband... then settled in with extreme excitement at the thought of another order. Imagine my pleasure when I discovered I was 12th in line - in the first group!

I placed my order on December 2nd, paid shipping on December 12th, and my package shipped on December 13th.

Sunday, January 8, 2017

I spend way too much time on the internet. My life is an eternal whirlwind of memes, violent swearing, inappropriate sexual innuendos, and all sorts of mass media references. I made a decision a long time ago to tone down certain aspects of my personality when writing my posts, but there are times when I can't help but let bits and pieces shine through. Forgive me for my transgressions.

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Hello, dear friends! We all here at the Band of Bloggers would like to welcome you to a brand new year. We hope it will be full of good health and much happiness, and of course a plethora of fragrance.

Let's kick off the new year by asking what your fragrant plans are for 2017. Are you trying new vendors, going on a low-buy or no-buy, or planning on burning more candles? Do you dream of new wax blends, trying out incense or something entirely different? Are perfumes, indie bath and body or artisan body care on your list? Or do you plan on making your own home made brews?

In one simple sentence? Continue experimenting! I have a habit of sticking to my favorites/comfort zones and as a result I tend not to branch out and try other things.

I want to keep trying out new to me indie vendors across many areas of expertise. I have my eye on several fragrance vendors and a few bath and body vendors. We'll see if I build up enough courage to take the plunge!

On the front of home made brews, I will continue to search for places to buy ingredients for soaps here. The downside I'm experiencing right now is I can't properly convey to my Korean friends what exactly I'm looking for, and we don't want to buy the wrong items or wrong grades of items. If anything is wrong, the end product would potentially end up extremely harmful to the skin.

And do tell us what your aromatic plans and goals for 2017 include!

We, sadly, have had a few bloggers lay down their pens. And they will be deeply missed. However, we are welcoming some new bloggers to this motley and aromatic group.